cleat} JURNEY into the exciting new world of lateral inking—and uncover woys to use your brain that you've never dreamed possible. Start with a strange-sounding situation, drawn ee ea for the bizarre circumstances, if you can do it with ee ee eee to change direction—to heod sideways, and think laterally To keep you hot on the trail, you can turn to the special section that offers clues and hints When one trail tus cold, discover how to look for Four types of puzzles ore featured, from the fairly tough Tempting and Intriguing, to the gruesome Grisly, and on to the very challenging Diobolicol Pane ener ne ee ee bring in some comic relief. Try them on your own ‘and then spring them on your friends. Woich how they squirm when you tell them the “easy” answers! eS Paul Sloane & Des MacHale Illustrated by Myron MillerAcknowledgments ‘We would like to thank GAMES magazine for allowing us to reproduce puzzles which first appeared in their “How Come” Competition in 1992, These puzzles are: The Ekler Twin by Judy Dean, The Seven Year Itch by Dee Bruder, The Book by Dan Crawford, The Plane Crash by ‘Lori Lavalle, Mountains Ahead by Bob Loper, High Office by Dave O'Brien, and A Good Night's Sleep by Kristen Stowe. Pat Squires contributed the idea in Suitcase for Hire, nary Cone ia ata king pre al ie Des Mate tee 4 ‘ee at by Sting oaig Prt tan Hope by Ca PL CONTENTS Introduction ‘The Puzzles 1 Tempting Puzzles WALLY Test I 2 intriguing Puzzles 3 Grisly Puzzles | WALLY Test it 4 Diabolical Puzzies ‘The Clues 1 Tempting Puzzles 2 Intriguing Puzzles 3 Grisly Puzzles 4 Diabolical Puzzles ‘The Answers 1 Tempting Puzzles 2 Intriguing Puzzles 3 Grisly Puzzles 4 Diabolical Puzzles About the Authors Index 12 2 BESRR BN eeaagINTRODUCTION Exercise is gond forthe brain, These puzzles form a sort of ‘mental fitness course to stretch and develop your powers Of lateral thinking. You may even get additional exercise ‘when you hear the answers—if you kick yourself! Te puczles consist of stange-sounding situations, of ten drawn from real life, Each has a perfecily good expla- ration. You have to figure out what itis. The Clues section provides hints when you are stumped. You will probably Enjoy these puzzles more if you discuss them in a group father than as a solitary reader. It is best if one person, Knowing the solution, answers questions posed by the ‘thers in the group. Questions should be formed so that they ean be answered either "yes," “no,” or “relevant.” "As you approach the puzzles, it fs best to test all our assumptions. Ask broad questions to establish what is really happening inthe situation. You will need to be log jeal and imaginative at the same time, When one line of ‘questioning leads nowhere, you need to approach the eblem from a fresh direction that what lateral think: Ing is all about. “The puzzles are arranged inte four main groups with two WALLY Tests interspersed for light celie. The easier problems are in the Tempting Puzzles section and the Uiicutt ones come under Diabolical Puzzles. There Section of Grisly Puzzles, all of which feature death, ace: ent, oF mutilation; these puzzles are among the most populor but they are not fr the squeamish, The WALLY Tests are just for fun: they consist of trick questions deib- erately designed to catch you 0 The world needs lateral thinkers, people who can bring fresh approach to current problems in all walks of life We need people who can develop imaginative new solu- tions, These puzzles are amusing diversions, but they may flsg help ereate a new legion of lateral thinkers, 4 THE PUZZLES 1 Tempting Puzzles 1.1 A Fishy Tale |A woman had a pet goldfish which she loved very dearly One day. she noticed that it was swimming, feebly in its bow! andit looked very unwell. She rushed to the vet with her prized pet andl he told her to come back in an hour. When she ‘returned she found the goldfish swimming Strongly and looking healthy again. How had the vet man aged this?1.2 The Lost Passenger Lite Billy was four years old and both his parents were dead. His guardian put him on a train 1 send him to 3 new home in the country. Billy could neither read nor write nor remember the address, so a large label on a String was secured around his neck clearly indicating Billy's name and destination. However, despite the best ‘efforts and kindness of the railway staf, Billy never ar rived at his new home. Why? 1.3 The Book ‘A woman walked up to a man behind a counter and handed him a book. He looked at itand said, “That will be four dollars.” She paid the man and then walked out with ‘out the book. He saw her leave without it but didnot call her back, How come? 1.4 A Hairy Problem Why is it that, in general the hair on a man’s head goes sgrey before the hair in his moustache does? 1.5 The Birds {wo naturals were walking n the country. They were. Tabniegassb cesta te en aR are (reac wales pds te at te by the way that you hit that bird” The second tepid "Re it was good but ots god a tat age bid tha you hitcaricr” What were they taking about? é 1.6 Blinded at Teatime ‘A man was drinking a cup of tea when he was suddenly blinded. How? 1,7 Countdown ‘A man was slowly counting but unfortunately he mis ‘Counted. A little later he suffered a sharp pain in his back. Why? 1.8 Weather Forecas John was watching television. Just after the midnight nevs there was a weather forecast: It is raining now and will rain for the next two days. However, in 72 hours it wil be bright and sunny.” “Wrong again,” snorted John. He was, correct but how did he know? byes 1 Let us agree that at the North Pole it is impossible to look rhorth and at the South Pole i is impossible to look south. ‘Then, where in the world would you be if you could look, north and south but could not look east or west? 1.10 The Blind Beggar ‘Ablind beggar had a brother who died. What relation was the blind beggar to the brother who died? (“Brother is not the answer.) 7A police officer saw a truck driver clearly going the wrong way down a one-way street, but did not try to stop him. Why not? 1.12 Mountains Ahead You are seated next to the pilot of a small plane at an altitude of one mile. Huge mountains loom directty ahead The pilot does not change speed, direction, or elevation, yet you survive. How come? 1,13 A Strange Cl ‘hristes During. christening ceremony, the godmother ofthe child suddenly tackled the priest who Was conducting the cer- femony, knocked him down, and rolled him over on the ‘ground, Why did she do this? ‘A man wishes to reach the island in the middle of an ‘omamental lake without geting wet. The island is 20 feet from each edge ofthe pond (see diagram) and he has two planks each 19 feet long. How does he get across? 1,15 Walking and Running There were two keen sportsmen. One evening at 6 r.s cone started walking at 4 miles per hour and the other Started cycling at 12 miles per hour. After an hour each of them stopped. They then each ran for fifteen minutes at 8 miles per hour. They both started from the same place, A ‘They both kept heading in the same direction throughout and never changed course or rested during the entire 45 ‘minutes. They both arrived at point B at the same time, How could this be and how far was it from A to B? 1.16 Church Bells 1 ‘A detective was lying in bed one Sunday morning listen= {ng tothe local church bells ringing. Suddenly he realized that he was listening to a recording, Flow did he know? ‘One night the vicar noticed thatthe od clock inthe church tower struck 13 times at midnight. It did the same thing the folowing night so he had the mechanism investigated Itwas found to bein perfect order, yet the clock struck 13 ‘again that night. Why? ‘When this book first came out it was read only by a hand: ful of very rich people. Now almost everyone has a copy and reads it frequently. But you cannot buy it in a book- Store of borrow it from a library. What isi? 9